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Longmont woman slowly recovering from being run over in January

By Pierrette J. Shields

Times-Call staff writer

Posted:
04/27/2014 10:14:01 PM MDT

Updated:
04/27/2014 10:25:43 PM MDT

Eve Reshetnik Brawner and Mikl Brawner pose for a portrait in the garden at their home in Longmont on April 21. Eve Reshetnik Brawner suffered serious injuries after she slipped on ice while crossing the street and was run over by a car on Jan. 17. (Matthew Jonas / Longmont Times-Call)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Times-Call's series Take Two revisits people or situations about which we have written previously. Take Two stories run on Mondays.

Eve Reshetnik Brawner is trying to learn to appreciate the necessarily slow pace her life has taken since a Jan. 17 accident nearly claimed her life.

"I was told that 20 years ago I would have died for sure," she said of the constellation of injuries she suffered when she was run over by a car on after falling on ice in a crosswalk.

Six surgeries and months into rehabilitation, she is back in her Longmont home and walks with the aid of a walker or cane. She goes to appointments for physical therapy on her still-long road to a full recovery.

"I think the biggest thing has been how grateful I am to still have my life," Brawner said last week.

According to the Longmont police, Brawner was walking north along the east sidewalk of Vivian Street on Jan. 17 when she attempted to cross Sixth Avenue, slipped on ice and fell in front of a car.

Officers determined the car's driver stopped on Vivian in the northbound lane and was waiting to turn right onto Sixth Street. She saw Brawner and was waiting for her to cross, according to investigators, but turned her head to look for cross traffic.

When the driver looked back to her right, Brawner was no longer visible. The driver did not know she had fallen in front of the car and proceeded to turn right, running over Brawner, police reported. A witness saw the accident and waved down the driver, who remained on scene. She was not ticketed.

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Brawner was rushed to Longmont United Hospital, then taken by helicopter to Denver Health Medical Center because of the level of trauma she suffered. Her pelvis and ribs were fractured and she suffered crush injuries to her internal organs.

Husband Mikl Brawner said that when he first learned of the accident, he had difficulty understanding how truly hurt she was .

"I was completely shocked. I was in shock. I couldn't comprehend what was going on," he said. He took vitamins to the hospital because he thought she would be ready to take them, he added.

She wasn't.

That was the first of countless trips he made to Denver to stay by her side, whether she was conscious or not. Friends joined him, first at Denver Health in intensive care and then in rehab for three weeks before she was able to return home.

He also wrote her a song, called "Eve Rising," that he played for her on Valentine's Day in the hospital. Recalling the tears that welled in her eyes, Eve Reshetnik Brawner said the trials they faced as she fought for her life brought the couple of 14 years even closer together. A link to the video of Mikl Brawner's performance is on the business' website, harlequinsgardens.com.

The couple co-owns Harlequin's Gardens nursery in Boulder and Reshetnik Brawner was instrumental in the business. They said friends rallied to provide the couple with homemade meals and closed the gaps in the business as best they could in her absence.

"It makes me feel like I am really part of a fabulous community," she said of the outpouring of support that included food, gifts, cards and other well-wishes from those she knew and strangers, alike.

"I never had to eat institutional food," she said, which she believes contributed to her recovery. Doctors said she is recovering quickly considering the life-threatening injuries she suffered, she said.

On Monday, a friend worked in their personal garden under Eve Reshetnik Brawner's direction. She said she often looks out at her garden and sees work, but now she sees someone else's work and is learning to appreciate a slower lifestyle, although she found it frustrating at first.

Eve Reshetnik Brawner said her injuries prevent her from bending down to do the work she is well-known for. She and her husband designed the rose garden at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.

A low-grade, persistent headache plagued much of her recovery and only recently lifted, allowing her to do some work for the business on her computer again.

She visited Harlequin's Gardens on Easter Sunday for the first time since her accident, and was excited to see friends and employees and judge a small Easter parade.

Eve Reshetnik Brawner said she has a way to go with her recovery. She attends ongoing physical therapy and has high hopes for the future.

"I am hoping to make a complete recovery, but time will tell. Every case is different," she said.